An Exercise in Elaboration
by turbomagnus
Summary: A series of shorts expanding on moments during and relating to Star Trek Online. Warning; contains spoilers.
1. Into The Breach - Fed

Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios, Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World, all are used by myself for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Author's Note: I meant to post this during the Three-Year Anniversary, but unfortunately got caught up in moving. Sorry.

Timeframe: Between the Federation Tutorial Missions "Khitomer Crisis" and "Price of Liberty".  
Character: Male Federation Tactical

* * *

"Into The Breach"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

Standing behind the Captain's Chair, the Ensign looked around the bridge; all the other stations were now manned by enlisted crewmen and non-commissioned officers, the highest ranking of them being the Chief Petty Officer manning Tactical, and he himself was now the highest ranking surviving member of the ship's complement.

"Captain, orders?"

Captain by title, not by rank. The Ensign had never wanted to be a Captain, command a ship, he was a security officer, the closest he could come to continuing the family tradition of law enforcement service in the mostly-peaceful Federation... But he was now the ranking officer, the only survivng officer, which meant he was in command of the ship, and the truth was that he had no idea what to do.

"Sir." the crewman at the Conn station said, insistantly.

A saying his grandfather was fond of came to his mind, 'better to do something constructive now than something perfect when it's too late'.

The Ensign sighed quietly and put his hands on the back of the Big Chair, "Evacuate the compromised decks, reroute life support from those decks to whatever systems need the extra power..."

He spun the chair around and sat down in it, "Set course for the rally point..."

"Course set."

Turning the chair back to face the main viewer, he sighed again, "Shields up, weapons hot..."

"Shields up, Aye. Weapons hot, Sir," the CPO announced."

The Officer Commanding leaned forward, one forearm resting on the same-side knee, the other hand on the arm of the chair, whispering, "Once more into the breach, Dear Friends, once more, or close the wall up with our English dead... Red Alert, take us in on an attack vector."

"And pray this does not turn into another 'royal fellowship of death'," he added to himself in a whisper.

The Crewman manning the Science console overheard and added silently, 'Amen.'


	2. In Summation - Fed

Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Gene Roddenberry Productions and CBS Television, Star Trek Online was created by Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment. I don't own the park, I just play in the sandbox.

Timeframe: Modern Day  
Character: Male Federation

* * *

"In Summation"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

"This is no time to worry about the timeline, we don't have the time!" - Deanna Troi, 'First Contact'

* * *

San Francisco, California,  
United States of America,  
planet Earth, Sol system  
2012 human Gregorian calendar, April 5th.

Daniels stood on Alcatraz Island, looking across the bay towards the place where he knew that, in the proper timelines, Starfleet Academy would be built in the future, "Are you sure?"

"This is quantum variations in temporal mechanics," the man standing next to him remarked, "There's no such thing as 'sure'. I was there when K'Valk informed Starfleet that the Nah'kul were still active, leading B'Vat to that Planet Killer... how many of those does that make, anyway?"

"I think one per century; the one B'Vat tried to use, the one Kirk destroyed and some records show Picard's _Enterprise_ also facing one, though other records show no trace of the incident."

"Interesting. As I was saying, when we learned the Nah'kul were still active, when the Iconians captured Sela, when the Tholians interfered with the return of the Enterprise-C, when Starfleet discovered the Iconian manipulations of the Undine... Undine, isn't that also the name of an ancient Terran water spirit?"

"You'd know that better than I would," Daniels observed, "As you said, you were there."

"The Tal Shiar was behind Hobus, the Iconians are behind the Tal Shiar..."

"And Nero?"

"We're still looking for information whether he's Tal Shiar-alligned or merely a tool they used, but the fact that some of the modifications to _Narada_ match the Assimilated-Romulan technology found in the Vault and on Haakon's ships is reason to believe that the Tal Shiar were behind his actions and if the Tal Shiar were behind his actions, then the Iconians were behind them."

"I don't think he was Tal Shiar himself, he blamed Vulcan and the Federation for Hobus - which means he didn't know, probably just a catspaw. I know I do, but do you ever miss the days when all we had to deal with were Sphere-Builders?"

"It's only the twenty-fifth century, relatively speaking, you've still got another two hundred years and... G, H, I... Four _Enterprises_ left, not counting the one active right now. But I understand what you mean; Undine shapeshifters; Dominion forces temporally displaced by the wormhole thinking the war's still on; time traveling Borg, Klingons, Devidians; let's not forget Iconians, Tholians and the Terran Empire; the Sphere Builders are always a threat, the Nah'kul are regaining their strength... You know what all this means?"

"What does it mean to you?"

"That if nothing else, at least we have great job security."

Daniels gave the other man a look through narrowed eyes, "So what happens now?"

"To quote a Deferi of my acquaintance, 'All things in balance, all things in time'."

"And time," Daniels agreed with a nod, "is something we're quite familiar with, isn't it."

"Relativitively speaking," the other man agreed.


	3. Promises - KDF

Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Gene Roddenberry Productions and CBS Television, Star Trek Online was created by Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment. I don't own the park, I just play in the sandbox.

Timeframe: During the last scene and immediately after the Featured Episode mission "Coliseum" from the 'Cloaked Intentions' series.  
Character: Male Klingon Engineer

* * *

"Promises"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

Every warrior knows that they will one day die, the only question is when, how and whether it is with honor. As the Klingon captain watched the Tal Shiar commandos level their disruptor rifles at him, he couldn't resist baring his teeth in a grin.

"Shoot well, you green-blooded villains... because I'll kill you if you miss."

Standing behind his commandos, Hakeev scoffed at the idea, "Ready... Aim..."

As he felt the familiar tingle of transport begin, the Klingon laughed in triumph.

"Fire!" the Tal Shiar Colonel ordered, but it was too late, his prey had already escaped, the disruptor bolts of his commandos passing harmlessly through where the Klingon had stood.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Hakeev howled to the heavens in rage at being denied.

* * *

"Report," the captain spat as soon as he materialised on the transporter platform of his ship.

"When you deactived the satellite, it transported you to the planet."

"It was a Tal Shiar trap... the fools..."

"Captain?"

"They've given us the proof we need of Obisek's claims - there was an Iconian gateway in the Tal Shiar base. Hakeev's own logs spoke of the Tal Shiar's submission to the Iconian 'Demons'."

"We must take this to the High Council."

"Yes, we must... and then... we exorcise these 'Demons of Air and Darkness' as we did the demons of our own people's past," the captain changed subjects sharply, "My away team?"

"Never left the satellite, my Captain, we retrieved them as soon as they informed us of your disappearance."

"Good."

"And your acid-etching friend there's been wearing holes in the deck plating," the first officer informed him, pointing at the young Horta that had joined them on Hfihar's moon Khoal who had followed him to the transporter room.

"Have them filled in. Assign it as a punishment detail to whatever fool Sensors Officer couldn't detect a crashed ship, an enemy base or even the fighter search patrols that were looking for me on the planet."

"As you command, Captain."

"And after I have contacted Qo'nos, you will find a way to contact Obisek - This treachery from one of his followers will not go unpunished."

"You suspect the Remans of betraying us, Captain?"

"No... Obisek is many things, but a fool is not one of them. He seeks to do battle with the Tal Shiar and their masters, not make an enemy of our Empire; not yet, at least. It is only honorable to inform him that if he wants to punish Slamek's treason himself, then Obisek had best find him before we do."

"And then?"

"And then..." The Captain bared his teeth, "I told the Romulan commander and his men that if they failed to kill me, then I would kill them. I have no intention of becoming a liar, Commander."


	4. After Action Report - KDF

Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Gene Roddenberry Productions and CBS Television, Star Trek Online was created by Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment. I don't own the park, I just play in the sandbox.

Timeframe: Immediately following the mission "Cutting The Cord" from the Featured Episode series 'Cloaked Intentions'.  
Character: Male Klingon Engineer

* * *

"After Action Report"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

The vessel's captain watched on the main viewer as Obisek and his Reman forces warped out of the Brea system, leaving the wreckage of ships both Romulan and Reman and the debris of an asteroid that was really an Iconian gateway in disguise floating through space, a silent testament to the battle fought against Hakeev and the Tal Shiar on and over this world, to the disappearance of a ruler and the return of a race long vanished.

Perhaps more than one race. That was what concerned the Captain. Klingons were strong in battle, but only a fool creates more enemies than they can handle and the number of enemies the Empire now faced grew ever more numerous; the Federation, the Romulans, the Breen, the Devidians had proven themselves a threat, the Borg had returned, the Tholians were ending their isolation and were bringing the Terran Empire of the Mirror Universe into the galaxy with them, the Fek'ihri had appeared again... and now the Iconians...

Except...

What he had seen as that Romulan technician had escaped. It bothered him.

"Communications, open a subspace channel to the Batlh."

"The Emperor's ship, sir?"

"Was I unclear in my orders? Find them - and patch it through to my ready room when you do!"

* * *

The captain was sitting behind his desk turning about in his hands a model of his first ship - a Norgh-class Bird-of-Prey that had served him well and true, but had taken so much damage during the battles against the Federation and finally the mission to the past to destroy Driffen's Comet and stop the Devidians that in the end, it could serve no more. After taking the Bird-of-Prey on one final mission to investigate a temporal anomaly in the Azure Nebula, Chancellor J'mpok had seen fit to not only promote him for his service to the Empire, but to reward him with the aged-but-servicable Kamarag-class Battle Cruiser he now commanded as well. The model he held was a reminder of his beginnings; a young warrior, going forth to strike against the Empire's enemies, fearing nothing in his path. Now, however, time, duty and battle had tempered him, turned him from a wildly swung bat'leth into a sharp kut'lich, the dagger in the dark that struck the foe when they least expected.

'If the Empire is the running man, then I have become the blade that slits four thousand throats,' he mused to himself as he sat the model on his desk.

"But," he said aloud, "I do not like this change. I did not join the Defence Force to sneak around in the dark like a mewling petaQ and slit throats, I joined to defend the Empire against her enemies. But who are the enemies? Why should we fight the Federation when there are greater foes to battle? I have heard rumors that on Defera, on Nukara, even in other places high-ranking officers of the Defence Force fight side by side with Starfleet against our shared enemies. If this is true, then why in Kahless' Name do they let us kill and die to each other? What foolishness would that be?"

"A good question to ask, Captain," Kahless remarked as he suddenly appeared on the monitor of the captain's computer terminal, "One has to recognise foolishness to keep themselves from becoming a fool."

"Emperor Kahless," the Captain answered quickly, "I do not seek to bother you, but there is a matter..."

"Bah, there is no bother!" Kahless interrupted, "It is good to again see the face of one with whom I have shared the field of battle. It must be important for you to contact me and not someone on Qo'nos. Speak."

"Recent duties have taken me into Romulan space, Emperor..."

"Yes, I've heard - the Remans, isn't it? And you do not need to call me Emperor, we have fought by each other's side, shed blood together; to you, I am just Kahless."

"Kahless, then..." the Captain nodded in acknowledgement of the order and honor, "There are demons of air and darkness, they are called Iconians. They are returning and using the Romulans as catspaws to weaken others."

"Hm," Kahless hummed deeply, "And you seek out Kahless, thinking there might be a connection to our old foe."

"Before I destroyed an Iconian gateway on the world of Brea III, what I saw on the other side of that portal... Kahless, I have reason to believe it led to Gre'thor. I saw the sign of the Fek'hiri. What I saw... is what I saw on Boreth."

"This is indeed troublesome news. Do two ancient enemies return or does only one that wears the face of another. You are right, Captain, there is no proof to take to the High Council, but... I believe you. Go, find that proof, together we will show the Klingon people the true face of our enemies!"


	5. Uniform And Cause - Rom

Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios, Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World, all are used by myself for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Character: Male Romulan Engineer  
Timeframe: Between "An Inside Job" and "Enemy Action"

* * *

"Uniform and Cause"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

The Captain stepped out of his Ready Room and looked around at his bridge crew, "Well... how do I look?"

The various Republic officers and other assorted anti-Star Empire types he had picked up since fleeing Virinat all looked at their commanding officer in his new Tal Shiar uniform acquired for their current assignment, but it was Hiven that gave voice to their shared conclusion.

"Good enough to shoot, Centurion," he announced with a chuckle.

"Let's hope it's good enough for the Republic to shoot me and not the Tal Shiar, huh?"

"I know I want to," Tovan muttered.

Across the bridge, Hiven countered by muttering about Tovan and continuing his relationship with Charva, despite her incarceration that resulted in the Virinati Romulan jumping to his feet and turning to glare at the other officer.

"Ahem," the Captain interrupted the oncoming disagreement, "Might I suggest your time be better served by making sure our registry and prefixes are corrected. I'd rather not have a close encounter with a plasma torpedo because either of you forget to change a 'Romulan Republic Warbird' IFF signal to an 'Imperial Romulan Warbird' signal on a tertiary transmitter."

"Sure thing," Hiven shrugged.

Tovan glared at Hiven for a few more seconds before turning back around and sitting down, "Whatever you say, Old Friend."

"Children..." Satra muttered with a shake of her head from across the bridge.

Despite agreeing with the sentiment, the Captain pretended not to hear it as he took the center seat, "Helm... Set a course for the Unroth system, Psi Valorum Block, best possible warp after we've cleared the Drozana system."

"By your command, Centurion."

* * *

"Entering the Unroth system, Centurion... Sensors are picking up a Tal Shiar communications relay station and numerous ships - mainly Mogai Escort Warbirds from the looks of them. Mogai are not moving to an attack vector."

"Of course," the Captain commented, putting one hand on the arm of his command chair with the elbow of the other resting on his knee, "We are one, big, happy fleet..."

"And we're going to be one short-lived Warbird if those Tal Shiar make us," Tovan commented.

"Why would they?" the Captain asked, "We're just another Warbird in the nest... Loyal subjects of the Star Empire, returning from deep-cover to warn them of an attack by the terrorists of the so-called 'Romulan Republic' and their allies."

"You know something, Centurion..." Satra remarked from behind him, "You do that too well. If I didn't know otherwise, I might suspect you really were Tal Shiar."

"Let's hope they agree with you, Satra," Veril added, "Because I really don't want to become particulate matter..."

* * *

Author's note; okay, so it included the first couple minutes of "Enemy Action", but once the Khan reference occurred to me, it had to be in there.


	6. Independence Day - Rom

Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios, Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World, all are used by myself for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Character: Male Romulan Engineer  
Timeframe: Following "Cutting The Cord" in the 'Freedom' arc.

* * *

"Independence Day"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

In a way, it was anti-climatic. Hakeev was dead. The Romulan Republic Commander knew this first-hand, he had been the one to look the Tal Shiar Colonel in the eyes - natural and artifical - as he pulled the trigger. He had fought his way through the city, defeated Hakeev's personal guards, then with the aid of Obisek and the Reman Resistance had finally brought an end to Hakeev's reign of terror against the Republic and other Romulan and Reman worlds that no longer recognised the authority of the Star Empire...

A single shot, full power, point-blank range.

It was less than the cycloptic Colonel had deserved. He deserved to die slowly, gasping for breath with the Commander's hand at his throat, knowing that all his plans, all his schemes, all his allies had failed. He deserved to die knowing that all the people who had suffered or died because of him were having their vengence... Maiori Malem, Avrak, D'Ral and Nevala, Zden, Lhaes, Commander Temer, even people like Charva and Janek who had joined the Tal Shiar honestly seeking to help their people only to have Hakeev and his like use them...

They were all avenged.

The Commander rubbed the V-shaped ridge on his forehead. Until the late 23rd Century, Romulans who had developed this bone ridge in the time after the Sundering were considered an inferior minority, rarely rising above the ranks of Centurion and the wearing of battle helms, it wasn't until after the alliance with the Klingons had fallen apart that the ridged Romulans had ceased to be considered second-class citizens by those with smoother, more Vulcan-like brows. It seemed to be a pattern for their people, oppression and rebellion, servitude and...

...And freedom. It was a strange feeling after so long, bound as he was to fight Hakeev until the end, the end that had finally arrived. Virinat, Crateris, Mol'Rihaan, dozens of worlds and hundreds of beings were avenged... and he was free.

Fingers still resting on his forehead, the Commander spoke aloud as he asked himself a simple question, "Now what?"

* * *

The conclusion he eventually reached was that each person would have to decide for themselves - this was no longer the Star Empire, the destinies and lives of many controlled by few or one.

As he passed from his ready room into the bridge, he raised his voice, "Hivan, put me on speakers, intra-ship."

The other man entered a series of commands before turning to him, "Speakers on."

The Commander began to slowly walk around the bridge as he spoke, "All crew, this is the Commander... Since this crew, since the majority of this crew joined the Republic, our primary objective has been to avenge Virinat. With the destruction of the Elachi's Subspace Station Alpha and the loss of their main fleet, we reached a milestone, but now, with the man behind the attacks on Virinat, Crateris and other worlds dead thanks to our allies in the Reman Resistance..."

Here he paused next to the bridge engineering station to give Varil a nod, it was her people and her friends that had been the driving force behind the invasion of Brea III and the defeat of Hakeev, "We've finally done it. The souls of Virinat may rest now..."

By now, he had made it to the front of the bridge and was standing in front of the main viewer, "But I can't rest."

Everyone on the bridge looked up at their captain at that statement, Senior Staff and bridge crew alike.

"I can't rest," the Commander repeated, "Because Hakeev's master was not the Star Empire. Hakeev served another, to him, they were the Dark Masters; our Reman allies know them as 'Demons of Air and Darkness'; history calls them the Iconians."

A few junior bridge officers gasped at the use of a name out of whispered legend.

"My crew, my... friends," the Commander smiled half-heartedly, "I can't ask you to go any further. If anyone wishes to leave the ship, please speak with your department heads and have them inform me, I'll see to it that you make it to Mol'Rihaan or any other place you'd prefer to go. You've done your duty to yourselves, your posterity and to those who came before us, now you can also rest..."

He walked between the operations and helm consoles until he was standing by his command chair.

"But I can't rest," he repeated again, looking around the bridge at the faces of the crew that occupied it, "I can't rest because the Iconians are still out there, still waiting, still lurking, still trying to weaken us and every other race so that they can reclaim their 'empire'."

Lowering himself into the center seat, the Commander pronounced firmly, "Well, they can't have it. The Iconians want to reclaim their empire, planets from Iconia to Mol'Rihaan and beyond... I will give them as much of those worlds as it takes to bury them, or will recieve as much as it takes to bury me... I'm going to take this ship; I'm going to find them; and I'm going to go through however many of them it takes before they figure out that Klingons and Federation, Cardassians, Romulans - Star Empire or Republic... we will not submit, we will not surrender, we will not be servants or slaves. We are free, we will live free or we will die free, but we will remain free. And no tyrant, no dictator, no invaders or 'Demons'... can stand against our willingness to defend that freedom, our need for it... Two hundred thousand years ago, those who came before us fought for their freedom - and by extension, ours - but the Iconians failed to learn from the experience... "

"They _will_ learn," the Commander finished, "We _will_ remain free. That is all."

He gave a sharp nod and Hivan cut the speakers. The Commander gave a long, hard exhale, then looked around the bridge again, this time focusing on his command team;

Tovan, his old friend and fellow Virinati refugee.

Satra, who remained on the ship despite long since proving that her fellow refugees were safe with the Republic.

Varil, a Reman from Crateris who had lost her father to the Elachi and then discovered that her closest friend was a Tal Shiar spy.

Hivan, betrayed by the administrator of Gasko Station and freed by the Commander and his team only to discover that his brother had been killed by the Tal Shiar only minutes before.

And D'Vex, the old engineer who had taught him and Tovan so much about machines and ships, who had kept an old Bird-of-Prey in good enough condition that it had been able to prove so decisive in the space battle over Virinant, who even after being freed from the Elachi had been ready to get into the fight and take it back to them and to the Tal Shiar...

"And you?" The Commander asked, "What will you do?"

Varil was the first to speak, slowly shaking her head, "Slamek... he was my friend. I can't go back to places we once were, people we once were with and think about him. Not just yet, not so soon after my father..."

D'Vex scoffed, "Somebody's got to keep you young fools from getting yourselves killed. Besides, any Warbird'll always be more interesting than a water reclaimation system on any planet."

"Sure, Hakeev's dead," Hivan added, "But there's still a lot of Tal Shiar out there that share his beliefs. In a way, each and every one of them's responsible for the death of my brother. I can't speak for the rest of you... but for me, it's not over. I'm just getting started."

The Captain looked over at his old friend, "What about you, Tovan? Mol'Rihaan? See how Rinna's healing? If Charva sees the Tal Shiar for what they are?"

"No," Tovan answered simply, "Seeing Rinna and Charva would be nice, but Hivan's right. As long as the Tal Shiar are out there, Hakeev or not, they'll always be a threat. Being with my loved ones would be great, I'll admit... but keeping the Tal Shiar and their masters away from them is better."

"What course, Commander?" Satra asked, not giving a reason for her decision to remain.

The Captain adjusted himself in his chair and leant forwards, "...Some place we've never been before."

He pointed off into the distance, about forty-degrees to his right, "That way."


End file.
